When people think of family, images of parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and family gatherings all come to mind. These constitute immediate family, and most people cherish time spent with these people. However, families extend far beyond those most immediate to us. Each family has a history, and each person’s family tree will stretch far into the past. Recently, I have started researching my own genealogy, and I have traced some of my family all the way back to England, Scotland and Ireland during the 1600s. Many Union residents might possibly have the desire to do this with their own families, and with the use of modern technologies, we can learn about our origins extremely easily.
Matt Hennington
One of the easiest ways to begin studying genealogy is by using the Internet to search for relatives and ancestors. Many different online services allow people to do this—Ancestry, FamilySearch, Find A Grave and many others. Some of these services do require a subscription; however, the benefits can be well worth the price if one wants to seriously dive into genealogical research. Services like Ancestry and FamilySearch allow users to build a family tree and search for relatives. These services use the power of the Internet to search through various different types of records and sources for these people. I have used FamilySearch to do this with my own family because this database does not require a paid subscription (unlike Ancestry), so I can only speak to the effectiveness of this service. In FamilySearch, anyone can build a family tree of living and deceased relatives. Once he or she begins to input deceased relatives, the online system takes over and fills in the tree with the parents of that particular family member. This continues up the tree until the service can no longer find a record of any family members. FamilySearch reveals many of the different branches of one’s family and even includes the birth dates, birth locations, death dates, and death locations of most family members and ancestors, making the tracking of migration patterns easy. Moreover, services like Find A Grave can supplement websites like FamilySearch in order to find more accurate records of deceased relatives. These types of services can take almost anyone back several centuries, and anyone will find a great and easy way to begin genealogical by simply using services like these.
Despite the effectiveness and ease of services like FamilySearch, this type of research can only take one so far. At a certain point, this research becomes difficult and tedious; therefore, a DNA test will reveal much more information about one’s ancestors and one’s origins. Many different companies offer these DNA tests, but Ancestry’s test is the most well-known and regarded as extremely accurate. Ancestry offers a DNA test for genealogical purposes for $100, so this does require a small investment; however, the amount of information one receives is well worth the price. Although some may voice privacy concerns (and rightly so), Ancestry takes extreme privacy precautions to protect their customers’ DNA and information; anyone interested in these precautions can find them on Ancestry’s website. If anyone does not want to use ancestry, I advise researching the companies in-depth before purchasing a test. Furthermore, a DNA test will show someone where his or her DNA originates and the migration pattern of his or her entire family. One can also find relatives in other parts of the world. This type of technology allows anyone to discover a wealth of information about his or her family, and for any Union resident serious about genealogy, a DNA test is the way to go.
Anyone can easily find family. In the 21st century with the use of modern technologies, anyone can begin performing genealogical research at any moment. Some online services require no paid subscription, and anyone can use these to begin tracing their ancestry. After becoming more serious about genealogy, one can take a DNA to reveal a vast about of information about his or her family. For any Union resident who wishes to begin researching his or her family, I recommend looking into these services. This endeavor of finding family can be exciting, frustrating, time-consuming, and interesting all at once; however, these discoveries make us who we are, and by knowing this information, we can better reflect on the meaning of family.
